Obama: Real Person or Persona?

Obama followers are intrigued with his eloquent, preacher-like oration style. Others question whether this is the real Obama or a persona he has been developing since he first started running for political office in Chicago.

Obama's Talents

Obama's talents include the masterly execution of a political straddle, according to a CBS article. (10/10/08). Time magazine author, Joe Klein, has "counted no fewer than 50 instances of excruciatingly judicious on-the-one-hand-on-the-other-handedness." Meanwhile, Obama presents himself as the cautious candidate of the inaptly named Audacity.

In his first debate, Obama said "John McCain was absolutely right about the need for more government accountability, for fewer earmarks and for spending cuts, and about the success of the surge in reducing violence in Iraq.

In the second debate, Obama promised "fundamental change" but otherwise portrays himself as the embodiment of moderation, perhaps even a little on the conservative side. He says that he wants to cut taxes for 95 percent of Americans, reduce spending, preserve but improve the current health-care system and win the war in Afghanistan while prudently drawing down the troops in Iraq.

There is a conflict in what he now proposes: tax increases for the wealthy, including the capital gains tax, while promising more than a trillion dollars in new spending for such things as tax credits to even those who pay no taxes. This would be in addition to the $700 billion Bailout.

Obama's Climb Up the Political Ladder

Obama's climb up the political ladder has been planned carefully. According to Herb Denenberg, writing in The Bulletin (10/9/08), when he was elected to the U. S. Senate, he was writing his second book, so he had little time for the business of the Senate. After only brief months in the Senate and book writing, he started running for president and again, had no time for Senate work. During the recent Bailout hearings, he told his fellow members of the Senate, "If you need me, call me. I have a phone. Denenberg writes that this is the pattern Obama has used in his climb up the political ladder and why he never accomplishes anything but his own self-promotion.

Obama Lays the Political Foundation

Obama began laying the foundation for his political career as a community organizer, then as an adjunct professor of constitutional law at the University of Chicago, but did not publish anything during that time. Even as a member and editor of the Harvard Law Review, no record has been found of anything he published.

During his years in the Illinois legislature, his main distinction was leading a battle against legislation that would prevent doctors from giving medical care to an infant that survived a botched abortion.

The question remains whether he is a down-the-line tax and spend liberal, who kowtowed to the base of his own party in the Democratic primaries, or the pragmatist who readjusted to the center as soon as the liberals handed him the nomination. The consistent line running through his career is Chicago-style opportunism, a willingness to accommodate whoever---Bill Ayers or the left wing voter in Ohio---can help him up the next rung in his ladder of ambition at any juncture.

Obama Sign

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